By Claire Saffitz
- Total Time
- 1¼ hours
- Rating
- 4(444)
- Notes
- Read community notes
The exquisite combination of raspberries and cream is made even more so by the addition of this light, finely textured sponge cake. The cake should be chilled before serving to ensure it holds its shape. Because the sponge is oil-based rather than butter-based, it stays soft and flexible even when cold. (Watch Claire make this cake and two others on YouTube.)
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Ingredients
Yield:8 servings
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
- 1Sponge Cake recipe, baked in a jelly roll pan and cooled
- ½cup/70 grams fresh raspberries
- ⅓cup/105 grams raspberry jam
- ½cup/120 grams heavy cream, chilled
- ⅓cup/80 grams mascarpone, crème fraîche or sour cream, chilled
- Pinch of kosher salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
150 calories; 9 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 15 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 93 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Place a clean dish towel on a large cutting board and lightly dust all over with confectioners’ sugar. Place the sponge cake on top of the towel, parchment side up; peel off and discard the parchment. Dust the cake lightly with more confectioners’ sugar. Starting at one of the longer sides, loosely roll up the sponge inside the towel. Set aside the sponge while you prepare the filling. (This will “train” the sponge and make it easier to roll up after it’s filled.)
Step
2
In a small bowl, mash together the fresh raspberries and raspberry jam until the berries break down; set aside.
Step
3
In a medium bowl, combine the heavy cream, mascarpone and kosher salt. Whisk vigorously by hand, or beat with a hand mixer on medium-high, until the mixture is thick and light, and holds a medium peak. Chill the bowl of whipped cream while you start to assemble the cake.
Step
4
Carefully unroll the cake so the short sides are to your right and left, and the longer sides near and away from you. Spread the raspberry mixture in a thin, even layer across the entire surface, leaving a border of about 1 inch along the longer side that’s farther from you. Pull the cream from the refrigerator and dollop all across the surface of the cake. Spread it in an even layer over top of the raspberry layer, this time leaving a 1-inch border on each of the longer sides.
Step
5
Roll the cake back up, starting with the longer side closest to you and using the towel to help you (without rolling the towel into the cake). Wrap the towel around the cake, allowing it to rest on the seam. Transfer the cutting board to the refrigerator and chill until the cake has had a chance to absorb some of the raspberry juices and set, at least 1 hour.
Step
6
Remove the cutting board from the refrigerator and gently unwrap the cake. Use a serrated knife to trim off the ends of the cake, exposing a clean spiral. Use the towel and/or cutting board to transfer the cake to a serving platter. Dust with more confectioners’ sugar, cut crosswise into slices with a serrated knife, and serve. The cake is best served the day it’s made, but will keep, covered and chilled, for up to 3 days.
Ratings
4
out of 5
444
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Cooking Notes
Josh
this is a great recipe but I would strongly advise trimming the browned or crisped edges of the sponge cake off before you put on the filling and try to roll it. The stiff edges ended up causing the cake to tear when I tried to roll it up. Otherwise the recipe worked wonderfully.
Rebekah Modrak
Rave reviews from everyone! Cake is light and airy. The fresh raspberries and sweet jam pair well with the unsweet cream and creme fraiche. I was tempted to add sugar to the cream but glad I didn’t—the berries sweeten it perfectly. Surprised to roll the roulade from the long end but this worked well. I wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe and will definitely make again. Huge benefit to “have to” trim the ends off the cake before serving because I got to taste it before sharing with others.
carole
With the vast array of similar pans out there, it might be a good idea to provide the dimensions of a “jelly roll pan,”
Sarah
You could definitely use fresh strawberries and jam!
margarita auffant najri
Is a traditional cake in Dominican Republic, we fill it with Guava jam home made, and use for the topping English cream, home made to. We call this Brazo Gitano. Really deligthful.Margarita Auffant Najri
Randy
A jelly roll pan measures 15"L x 10"W x 1"H. The size is critical to produce a layer which will successfully roll without cracking.Re: rolling the cake while still a bit warm; YES. It works better.Re: trimming edges before rolling; YES. Premium bakeries use the trim for cake crumbs to decorate the sides of layer cakes.Re: seedless vs, seeded berry filling; it is a personal preference, but straining the seeds out produces a much more elegant result.Use a neutral flavored vegetable oil.
Bobbi
I bet you are too worried. If you like eating the blackberries out of hand, you'll like them this way. Or you could use extra berries and push the mashed mixture through a sieve with a silicon spatula, then you'd have no seeds to worry about.
Elise
I just made this recipe for the first time, but made two cakes. The first one rolled just fine. The second one completely split apart while rolling. After looking around online, I see some people suggest you do the first “training” roll while the cake is still warm. Maybe I’ll try that next time.
JB
Excellent cake. I used strawberry jam and added sliced strawberries on the whipped cream. Needed about 2T more jam and 1/4 c. More whipping cream. One note, roll the cake while still warm or it will crack. I knew that, but followed the instructions. I should have listened to myself.
Mary Beth
Followed the advice to oil the cooling rack and to trim the edges before rolling. Came out perfectly looking exactly like the photo. Going to try with blackberries/blackberry jam.
Juliet Jones
To CBR, you could try mixing the blackberries with blackberry preserves or jam, like what the recipe does with raspberries.
Suzamagoo
Any reason this couldn’t be done with fresh and strawberry jam?
Liz
Delicious! We tried the cream with sour cream and sadly could not get it whipped into peaks. Still tasted great :)
Angela
Perfect sponge! I’ve tried many times to make Genoise with zero success. I was half way into this when I realized that basically what this recipe is. So maybe going into it without the stress or trepidation of attempting a genoise resulted in perfect sponge or the 4 eggs and oil. Don’t know don’t care! So happy to have found a recipe that is the perfect vessel for summer fruits and cream. Yay!
Diane (Montreal)
I tried this recipe in search of a perfect sponge cake for my bûche de Noël. At 27 minutes of baking, in a 10" x 15" pan, the cake split when I rolled it for the « training » part. The dessert turned into a light, delicious raspberry sandwich. I will try it again, perhaps cutting the baking time. I'd make a little more of the raspberry filling.
Mike
For a slightly more decadent version, add finely chopped walnuts to the sponge cake for less flour and add cocoa powder to the whipped cream. It is sublime.
Fleur
This came out well--the second time. The first time I couldn't get the cake to look as dark as Claire's in the video so I went with the longest recommended cooking time. The cake cracked pretty badly on rolling. Made it again, went with the shorter recommended time, and it came out well. She mentions in the video that overbaking the cake will make it more prone to cracking. We also had to bump up the amounts of filling (and whip the cream filling VERY stiff) to support the roll.
A Kiely
This was a nice little cake, just didn't wow me with flavor. I followed it exactly except I rolled from the short end and ended up with more of a swirl. I ended up serving with extra berries and ice cream.
Erika
Excellent recipe and very easy BUT you must roll the cake while warm! Simply drag a knife around the edges to loosen the cake then invert onto a kitchen towel generously sprinkled with powdered sugar, roll up with the towel and leave the whole thing (towel included) to cool completely on a wire rack, seam side down. Makes filling and re-rolling as easy as can be. I’ve done it twice with Claire’s recipe and didn’t suffer a single crack.
temple
Made this yesterday with great trepidation at the rolling up part.It worked as described, rolling first in a cloth. My family were delighted with the end product that looked very good decorated with icing sugar and berries. Also it is a generous amount - the roulade was quite long - had to hunt for a long enough platter or board! I can’t believe it did not break up and crack as I expected. Thanks for the recipe and video. It really is a versatile sponge recipe.
iota
Planning to serve this whole, to be cut and served at table, I transferred the finished roll to a platter rather than chilling it in the towel on the board. I decorated with fresh raspberries and powdered sugar. Because the sponge cracked during the rolling, next time I think I’ll underbake by 5 minutes so it’s more pliable.
Kate
Has anyone tried this with chocolate sponge? Interested to see if it could also turn out well
martha
This was delicious. I did add just a tbls or so superfine sugar to the cream and used sour cream (lower fat) and was happy with the results. I rolled it the short way and that worked well too. Topped with chocolate shavings.
AmyJB
I recommend d watching the video on YouTube before making this cake. Also the recipe for the sponge cake gives the dimensions of a jelly roll pan you could also Google this 10X15 in.The directions also describe ‘training’ the rolled cake while it’s hot and setting it aside. I followed all the directions a the cake came out perfectly.
Elena
I’ve made this version once with mascarpone, and the strawberries and cream cake version a few times as well with no issues and to rave reviews. However! This time I could only find sour cream and I could NOT get the whipped cream to form any kind of peaks. Made for a very oozy roulade!!!!
Alye
This is FANTASTIC. My first time ever making sponge cake, I think I slightly underbaked it because it stuck to the cooling rack and the dish towel. BUT it rolled wonderfully and tastes great-- nothing a little powdered sugar can't cover :) I used strawberries and strawberry jam because it's what I had.
Mimi
I used to eat a variation of this with strawberries in Bogota, Colombia, where it was called Brazo de Reina (Queen's Arm).
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